Ironing Out the Details
by beccalovesmerder
Summary: Post Iron Man 3. A quiet evening at home turns into some serious discussions about the future. Pepperony with extra fluff. Enjoy!


**I did it! My first Iron Man fanfiction!  
This took a while to write, but I am extremely excited to share this with you :)**

**This story takes place after Iron Man 3, but has very minor spoilers if any. Ship is Pepperony and you can expect lots of fluffy goodness for our favorite couple.**

**Please let me know what you think!**

**Flashback is in **_**italics**_**.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The ending credits of the movie they had just been watching slowly rolled across the large television screen.

Reclining further back into the soft cushions of the couch, Pepper allowed a small, content smile to slide across her face. Her left hand cradled a half full wine glass, while her right played with the soft, dark head of hair nestled in her lap.

It was their first date night back in their newly constructed Malibu mansion. Much of the design resembled the original, but Tony insisted she be involved in the construction.

* * *

"_I don't care, Tony!"_

_In reality, of course she cared about what her home was going to look like. But Tony had been harping about the smallest things for the past 2 months and it was starting to get on her nerves._

_"You designed the first one by yourself, you can design this one without having to get my opinion on every little thing. I don't expect you spend an afternoon looking at drapes so why are you making me look at all these blueprints?"_

_"It's your home too!" Tony visibly pouted and plopped himself down in the chair next to Pepper's._

_"I know it is and I'm very excited we're rebuilding it. But you keep changing things and making it impossible for them to finally start the construction."_

_She didn't mind staying in Stark Tower while they waited for their house to be rebuilt, but it wasn't home to her and she was anxious for it to be done._

_Pepper paused a moment to gaze across the table at all the many blueprints and design ideas Tony had dreamt up. Most of them she liked, but some of them were a tad ridiculous. Although, she wouldn't put it past Tony to throw those in just to make sure she was paying attention._

_"I liked the old house," she mused thoughtfully as she sorted through the plethora of designs._

_"You do?" _

_She wondered why that seemed to surprise him so much. "'Course," she shrugged. "It was beautiful. And familiar. It was home."_

_Without another thought, Tony swept his arm across the table sending blueprints fluttering to the floor. A keyboard appeared on the smart glass before he pressed a few keys which caused a detailed hologram of their former home to rise in front of them._

_Tony looked up expectantly at his girlfriend. The smile playing at his lips was small and controlled, but his eyes were practically dancing with excitement._

_"Your move, Potts."_

* * *

Pepper smiled at the memory, taking the time to gaze around the room and soak up the peaceful moment she was enjoying. Looking down at her boyfriend, she noticed Tony didn't seem in much of a rush to move either. His eyes were closed and his breathing even, though she knew he was still awake.

She sighed in contentment as she ran her free hand through his hair once more.

"Do you need more wine?" His deep voice almost startled her. She looked down at her lap and smiled at the half lidded eyes and smirk she was met with.

"Nope. Still working on this one," Pepper replied, taking a sip from her glass.

She watched as Tony reluctantly rose from her lap and gathered his empty wine glass, as well as the pizza box that once held their dinner. He placed a tender kiss on the top of her head before continuing to the kitchen.

"You sure you don't want me to top off your glass?" he called from the other room. "There's just enough left in the bottle."

"Fine, fine," she accepted in mock annoyance.

Tony emerged from the kitchen with a soft grin, his own refilled glass, and the bottle for her.

"So," Tony began, standing next to the couch, emptying the bottle into Pepper's awaiting glass. "I have a question for you."

Pepper raised an eyebrow in suspicion but remained silent.

"Do you want kids?"

The sip of wine she had been taking stuck in her throat as she sputtered in surprise. "What?!"

"Kids," Tony continued. "Children? Rugrats? Off spring? Heirs to my iron throne?" He knew that last one would earn him an incredulous look from his girlfriend and she didn't disappoint. "Do you want them?"

"With you?"

The corner of Tony's mouth twitched as he fought off a smirk. "Is there someone else you had in mind?"

"Well, no, of course not, I'm just…." She really didn't know how to finish that statement. She was surprised to say the least. "What brought all this on?"

He shrugged and looked down at his feet for a moment. "Isn't this the kind of thing couples are supposed to talk about?"

The shy, unsure look he was giving her melted her heart just a little. It wasn't often Tony showed this side of himself but she loved when he did.

"It is," Pepper confirmed with a timid smile. "Are you saying you want kids?"

Tony shrugged again, attempting to appear non-committal. "I don't know. I think I would. No promises on how good I'd be at the whole father thing though. Didn't have the best role model as far as that goes."

The flash of pain that flickered behind his eyes didn't go unnoticed by Pepper. "I think you'd be a great dad, Tony," she confessed softly. Reaching for his hand, she guided him gently to the couch to sit beside her.

She would have never guessed that their quiet evening at home would take such a serious turn. '_Serious, but not necessarily bad,_' she decided internally.

Once Tony was seated beside her, she released his hand and instead brought it up to his cheek. She said nothing while he collected his thoughts and let her thumb swipe soothingly along his jaw.

"I loved them," he began quietly. "My parents, I mean. My mom was great and always there for me. But my dad…" He cringed as he tried to think of the right words. "He was never very affectionate. Unless I was building a circuit board or something I just felt in the way. I learned quickly that that was the only way to get his attention. He was always working. Either at the company, his office at home, or in the garage. I'm not saying all my memories with him were all bad, but…For all the ways I know I turned out like him, I don't want to have inherited his parenting skills."

The yearning in her boyfriend's voice broke her heart. "Tony, you won't be like that."

"How do you know?"

"Cause I won't let you," Pepper assured with a small smile. "Are you forgetting that I posses the coveted power that is the ability to drag you away from your workshop?"

That managed to produce the smallest of smiles.

"I don't think I'd have to do too much though," she continued. "I really do think you'll be a great dad. And all these things you're worried about? Look at it this way, now you know exactly what you _don't_ want to do."

"Well, that's true," Tony granted.

Putting her wine glass down on the coffee table in front of her, Pepper twisted to completely face Tony and take his face between both of her hands. "You are one of the most passionate, caring, and wonderful men I have ever met. Kids are honestly not anything I've thought too much about before we started dating. But there's no one else I'd want to have them with. And I wouldn't be saying this and wanting this if I didn't mean everything I've told you."

Not knowing how else to respond, Tony closed the small gap between them and pressed his lips to hers in a slow kiss. When the kiss ended, he continued the contact by resting his forehead gently against hers.

Pepper's voice broke the calm silence. "And aren't you supposed to be a genius?" she teased. "Maybe you'll make some mistakes at first, but I have yet to see you fail at something, Tony."

"I will make mistakes," he insisted seriously.

"Everyone does," she shrugged. "No parents know what to do all the time. Especially in the beginning."

"Maybe we'll have to have a couple then. Two or three? That way we can make all our mistakes on the first kid and the other two will have a chance," he joked, causing Pepper to laugh.

"Well, we would make pretty babies," Pepper thought aloud.

Her words delighted Tony more than he would have expected them to. "So you'd think about it?"

"I'm thinking about it," she nodded with a smile.

"I love you," he whispered. "You know that, right?"

His confession caused Pepper's lips to curve in an involuntary smile. "I do. I love you, too."

Tony reached for Pepper again to pull her into a deep kiss. Wrapping an arm around his girlfriend's waist and the other behind her head, he moved them to lean her back into the cushions of the couch. Before they got completely carried away, Pepper broke the kiss.

"We're not making babies right now," she joked breathlessly.

Tony chuckled. "No, no," he agreed. "I'd like to put I ring on your finger first at the very least."

He was still grinning but the conviction in his words told Pepper he wasn't joking. With all this talk of babies and parenting, the thought of marriage shouldn't make her breath catch in her throat or her heart beat a little faster in her chest. But, lo and behold, the thought of Tony presenting her with a diamond and asking her to spend the rest of her life with him had tears threatening to well in her eyes.

This brief moment of emotion did not go unnoticed by Tony. "Does that surprise you? That I want to marry you?"

"It shouldn't," she confessed honestly. "Logically I know that's where we're headed. I mean, we've known each other for over twelve years and have been dating for over one of them. We live together already…And I can't remember a time when you weren't a part of my future in some capacity when I thought about it. Even when I was just your assistant," she added with a slight chuckled.

"Never been _just _my assistant," Tony mumbled so quietly Pepper almost missed it.

She offered him a soft smile in response before continuing. "You've also made it very clear that you have no intention of letting me go anywhere."

Tony only gave a sly grin, knowing there was no denying the statement. For one thing it was true and for another, he wasn't ashamed of it. His refusal to let her leave his side when he could help it was basically what got her to move in with him after the whole New York debacle. And as far as he's concerned, it was the best thing that could have happened to him.

"I know I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you. Whether I like it or not," she teased with a smile to let him know she was joking. "I suppose I just didn't know if marriage was something you'd want."

"Are you kidding?" he asked. "How could you think I'd pass up the chance at tricking you into spending the rest of forever with me?"

Pepper's lips twitched in amusement. "As if you wouldn't have figured out a way to do that anyway."

Tony matched her amused expression. "You're probably right," he agreed. "But you know how much I don't like to share. A huge rock on your finger and a notarized piece of paper from the state of California should help to ward of at least some people. And Virginia Stark has a great ring to it, don't you think? Pepper Stark sounds even better."

"How do you know I'd change my name?"

"Well, you have to, Pep. It'd look so much better on the paperwork."

"Paperwork? That's your argument?"

"Well, that and you won't let me put 'Potts' on the next tower. What other way am I supposed to put your name on the next one?"

"I honestly can't tell if you're joking or not."

This made an accomplished grin spread across his face. "I'll never tell."

Pepper rolled her eyes.

"You also wouldn't let me change the company to Potts Industries even though you've been a better CEO in the past year than I had been in ten."

"I'm just the administrative side of things with a fancy title. It's still your company, Tony. Without that brilliant, slightly crazy brain of yours the company wouldn't be anywhere."

"You do more than that, Pepper. Don't diminish your role. I can think up all the crazy things I want but you're the one that makes sure it gets out there."

"It's a team effort," she conceded.

"We're getting majorly off track here," Tony cut in. "Point is, yes, I want to marry you and when I finally do ask, I expect you to say yes and act appropriately surprised."

"I'll do my best," she chuckled, easing up from the couch. She leant over to softly kiss his cheek and picked up their almost empty wine glasses.

Tony watched her for a moment as she sauntered into the kitchen before getting up and following her.

He stopped at the threshold of the kitchen when he spotted Pepper rinsing the glasses out in the sink. "Did we just successfully have an adult conversation?"

Her involuntary laugh echoed through the kitchen. "I believe that's what most would call it," she replied without even turning around.

"But I was involved."

"I believe you were."

"Huh."

Pepper rested the wine glasses in the dish drain to dry and turned to face her perplexed looking boyfriend. "I'm not sure I've ever seen you look this confused. I thought you were supposed to be some sort of genius or something."

Tony snapped out of his mild haze. "I _am_ a genius," he insisted petulantly with his usual smirk.

Pepper took a second to drink the moment before her in. To fully appreciate the beautiful, pouting man in front of her. The same man who, just minutes before, was spouting off all his plans regarding their future, marriage, and kids.

If someone had told her five years ago that this would be her life, she would have laughed in their face.

But now, there was nothing she wanted more.

"Come on, genius. I think it's time for bed."

She grasped his hand within her own as she walked from the kitchen and led him up the stairs to their bedroom. As they ascended the stairs, Pepper couldn't help but wonder how they could possibly manage to top this date night next week.

* * *

**Thank you for reading.  
Please review and tell me what you thought!**


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